I slink amongst the crowd listening for what Pack is saying aloud. I’ve not had the training to eavesdrop bond-communication; I am leaving that to Broad, Bushy and Slender. The stink of fear is so ubiquitous it’s blended into the Leaf smell and become how this world smells. There is not much chat to be heard by ear. There rarely is now. Bushy has not officially told us about The Wall but what else would call for a stealth mission amongst Pack when we are meant to be protecting and providing for it. I’m not sure why Broad and I are involved at all, except as cover but I suspect Bushy wants a demonstration of his skills.
I can smell sickness too. No-dog here is eating enough, even with Outside Pack. Some dogs’ spines are no longer sticking out but their skins are hardly full. The pups who survived are all strangely grown, either tall and emaciated or puppish at a cycle old. Many dogs have less fur than they should. And these dogs think of themselves as the lucky ones. A dog I have not smelled in probably a cycle, but who was one of the first to swell, approaches,
( Any chance you can hear this? ) It is barely a whisper, but I’m shocked to have that much with a dog I have barely groomed and certainly not in nearly a cycle.
( Yes. ) She scents disappointment until I put my paw on hers and incline my head. Obviously whatever force she is using to get through to me is beyond my ability. She walks away but whispers into my mind,
(( Avoid Bushy. She listens. She does his work you know. She has a taste for ears almost as voracious as his. )) And she is gone. So, Bushy is known. I better get away from her in public before dogs stop seeking QD^ support for fear of losing an ear.
(( I heard that. I think your gut is probably telling you to distance yourself. I tend to agree. I will pass on that you are trying to engage some dogs in chat. )) Then Broad is gone. I’m glad every-dog has more advanced bond-communication skills than me, but can I just control an interaction for a cent^?
I have definitely learnt no-dog will speak with an out-Service/den dog in public. I drift through EdgeLeafment^, full of dogs using the least energy they can, waiting for provision. There is a pack of pups, well they might be almost dog sized in some instances but they show their lack of creche-discipline. Another way Pack Guider^ has let this Pack down, letting Pack remove pups from creche and Soil Parents. There is one who looks younger than the others but might just be stunted by his lack of calories. He is telling a scent-story to the pack in a hushed-tone. These packs that raised themselves don’t seem to have much bond-communication. I guess who would teach them if Soil Parents are not.
“When the hunting degree^ comes, so do the chompers. They smell like a normal Soil-dog at first but then you smell they are mad! They come to settlements with pups and they seek out the stupid, slow ones and make them prey. They chomp on their bones and rip their flesh –” my fur prickles and my stomach turns at how accurate that part is. “The adult dogs know and just hope there are enough pups to satisfy the chompers.” For a young dog with little by way of bond-communication, he is an excellent story-teller. The liminal pup/dogs lean in, bristling at the manes. I smell the wave of fear he starts spread amongst them all. “above all, the chompers fear he who provides for them. He releases them at night so they will make pack smaller and easier to control. It is down to us to not be the stupid, slow pups.” I hadn’t been using any stealth, just hanging about, but it is like I suddenly un-scentmasked. He flinches slightly but several of the others jump back. They get low but do not actually growl.
I am going to cut through this cat-shit^ in a cent. Bushy has been asking us to debrief to her but will not state what she wants to know. But it is painfully obvious she wants to know if The Wall is known. Dogs under stress tell stories but how much is this informed by actual knowledge. I didn’t hear a single mention of a wall but there does seem to be a thought of a place Pack may not go where they choose.
“Did you find any-dog telling scent-stories about adventures they've had?” I chuck harshly at the question
“Did any-dog mention wondering in the forest and finding The Wall and what’s behind it you mean?” I hadn’t planned on broaching it quite like that but there we go. She is completely undecipherable for a moment then replies,
“Other than ye I mean.”
“No mention of The Wall but Pack knows Pack Guider is not a gift from Soil.” Broad is not interrupting me, or even guiding me through the pack-bond. I'm not sure why, but it is liberating to be honest with this bunch of deceptive hyenas.
“He is not that.” I choose to believe this to be a genuine interaction. If it isn’t Broad will tell me eventually.
“So, what do the stealth-pack guiders think of the situation?” It is her turn to give a harsh chuck
“What pack guiders? The ones that weren’t on the side that caused The Wall, went to try and bring broken dogs, back to Pack to heal but we haven’t smelled any of them since. I am the highest scarred stealth-dog in Pack as far as I can tell now.” She smells exhausted. This might be a great performance, but I don’t think it is.
“Then what do you think of the situation?” Broad asks, sounding more QPG than I did.
“The QD in me is convinced she is being genuine, the stealth-dog will never trust. That’s why I left, I hate this feeling in my stomach.”
“I think she is either better than you or she is genuinely in some situation not dissimilar to what she described. Her stealth-pack-mates across the worlds are no use to her and she cannot get long enough with the long-communicator to get decent advice. They probably don’t even know what is wrong, just that there is something askew.”
“He’s only one dog, how can she be so afraid of him? There is a means of Pack removing a pack guider who is not-for-Pack. Why not put it to the Pack and let us know his actions and let him come within pack? Or leave as he makes runt-makers and innocents alike?”
“Yeah it can’t just be that she doesn’t know who she could rely on. I don’t know a single dog that would be with him.”
“So really what we have learned is that we still don’t know what's going on.” Big Paws First Eyes comes in looking uncomfortable.
“Hi both, didn’t mean to interrupt but what with ye getting called away to Outside and on stealth missions I haven’t been able to come talk to ye about this.” I feel a pang of guilt at all these QDs with as little Pack Guider as Leaf-Pack has. I will focus on the Q-pack for a while. I'm no longer needed to set up Outside and any-dog could liaise with them. But it is so nice to be in a different environment. I have been un-pack-minded. “There have been some targeted provision removals. Not the desperate actions of hungry dogs but dogs who know exactly what would not be easily noticed. It happens everywhere between Outside and the stores as well as a few things actually lifted from the stores. We maintain a guard on the store, so I think this dog knows how the stores work and how we provision.” I feel Wilderness tendrils unfurl in my stomach.
“How many items are we discussing here?” I ask before I panic.
“Not a great number: a rodent here, a portion of provision there, a haunch maybe.”
“Thank you for bringing that to us. I am very sorry that we have not been around enough for you to talk to us about this sooner. Do you have a full inventory of what is gone and when?” It might not be too bad. At this point, is anything really that bad?
“Yes.” He takes a breath to recite it, Broad cuts him off,
“With this much of a delay already it cannot be a problem to wait until Rise to tell us the full inventory. You smell tired and the Set provision is not even over. If you are on the Set shift, go and get the next round of provision out to the spots then you can go to den. I will make sure that no-dog has to serve too hard to cover that.” He is a better QD than me, I was too caught up in my own guilt to notice that none of us can cope with that conversation tonight. Big Paws First Eyes leaves. Broad puts his head over my shoulder. He is still and calm until I am too.
( Do you have any idea where that fits in? ) I ask, hoping he will understand it all now and have a solution.
( No. We can think about it in the Rise. It’s not like the chompers are coming. Now you den, while I see how much Service there is to do before Rise. )
( I have not historically taken well to being told what to do by a role-mate. )
( You have not historically been a stealth-dog. Sometimes it is hard to figure out what's the right thing to do. Stealth-packs look out for each other in that way. )
( You take that back. I am not a stealth-dog. )
( Of course not. ) But am I?